Oh, I remember my first job as an attorney.  I walked into the firm with my laptop (which had a 40MB HD) and was told that the partners would "never allow an associate to use a computer."

I prevailed ... and then found out that the word processing department for the entire firm had a total HD capacity of 10 MB!!!  After I was there a little over one year they decided to allow me to set up a network for them.

So, I feel good for dragging them (kicking and screaming) into the computer age.  Now they have a web site, a full time IT guy, and everything.

My first computer was a TI99A - with a whopping 64K  RAM, and a tape drive (used standard casset tapes). Got it to become computer literate (in 1981) because many jobs were advertised with "computer/programming skills a plus".

I remember spending many hours optimizing the first 640K RAM on DOS  386 PC's with QEMM to be able to run network drivers, a plotter driver, and load pcArcInfo (GIS Software), so we could run DesqView and "multitask" by editing data, or doing word processing, while we were plotting maps - almost doubled productivity!!!

Remember the old Cyrix  upgrade chips?  You could upgrade a 386 to a 486 (with on chip math co-processor), and then came the 486 to 486dx4 processors upgrades (upgraded some 25Mhz laptops with these). And the hotest word processor on the market was WordStar, and dBase was the best database software for the PC (command line rulz)!

Oh, and everyone insisted that Unix was just too powerful (i.e. memory hog) to run on a PC. Ah, those were the days ........ NOT!

Now we have Vista, which finally puts Unix/Linux in it's proper place, you just simply will never be able to run Vista on many Unix/Linux boxes (PC's that is) because they simply aren't powerful enough to run it. Hmmmmmm :-?

Quote - Yes, but now she gets to spend much less money and end up with a better machine.

Good point, I wouldn't touch a Dell if my life depended on it, mostly thanks to horror stories like this one. I have yet to phone any type of helpline to do with my pc's, I'm of the school of  "I broke it so I'll fix it myself"

Quote - > Quote - Yes, but now she gets to spend much less money and end up with a better machine.

Good point, I wouldn't touch a Dell if my life depended on it, mostly thanks to horror stories like this one. I have yet to phone any type of helpline to do with my pc's, I'm of the school of  "I broke it so I'll fix it myself"

Then it's a damned good thing you =don't= have a Dell, L. Mikey's Boys tend to get things 'customized'....like the series of desktop units that had the ATX power connector rewired away from the spec. More than a few fried their mobo's, ps's, and warranty on that little stunt..... They say they don't do that anymore. And giraffes are pink with lime green stripes.

oh, well, my 1st computer was an Atari 800 as well, though I didn't do much more than play 'Star Raiders' on it..first real one was a Leading Edge model D I bought in 1985 (sold to my Dad years ago...and he's still using it and it still works! scary..;)

If you go out on the web, there are tons of free emulators (and the games that go with them), which will give you the 40 column displays of yesteryear. I used to have the Altair, the IBM 370 (what I was going to do with that I'd never know..;), Atari 800, and Commodore 64. If you need that nostalgia fix, it can be itched..do a search on them..;)

Dale .... I really want to see you do a render of a pink giraffe with lime green stripes.  If you don't, I may have to .... maybe title it "Giraffe at the Dell Zoo".

Eghads........ first was a commodore 64, using an old TV as a monitor.  Even worse? My first internet program, GEOS.  Oh gawd.......... I remember those phone bills!  All i really remember about the 64 was playing Hitchhikers guide (no pictures, just text game) off a floppy.

Oh ... I LOVED Hitchiker's Guide!!  

I couldn't get past one point where I had a "locked" door and no key.  So, one night I got really plastered and when the game said the door was locked, I just kept typing "open the door" .... must have typed it about 12 times ... no reason why other than I was faced.

On the 12th (or so) try, the game suddenly said "The door opens ... we lied about it being locked".  

Once I realized that I was playing a game that would actually lie to you ... all bets were off.

I needed to get out of the house so I'm at the library.

It was definitely the graphic card that went on it. Bobby Stahr's friend came by my house to wipe the drive of the Dell CPU because I didn't want to send it back with my banking information or programs and their keys inside.  He tried reseating the card but it was in there really tight so it wasn't that it was loose. He put in a different card and it worked.  

I called Dell on Monday to tell them to come pick up their computer because I was returning it for a refund.  They tried to give me $300.00 back if I would keep the system. I told them "NO THANKS!"  UPS picked it all up today.

I ordered a computer locally from Powerland Computers where I had initially planned on going. It's $1800.00 including taxes and has a 22 inch flat screen LCD monitor.  I only went with a basic graphic card because I don't do PC games and only graphics so Bobby, his friend and Powerland said that the card I have will be more than what I need for what I use my computer for and if I ever decide to get into animation and movie making or PC gaming I can always upgrade the card then.  I also have a 5 year parts and labour warranty which cost me a whole $67.00 extra, which is cheap and worth it to me.  Plus I'm getting XP Pro and they will partition my drive for me, so I'm happy.

To try and answer some of the questions throughout this thread:

1. About building my own.  I'm not that smart when it comes to computer hardware so buying parts would still mean having to pay someone to put it all together for me because I couldn't do it myself.  Well, after this experience I probably could now given the fact that I was digging around inside the tower like a real trooper :)  and George showed me how to take out the graphic card, memory chip and hard drive.... so if I ever get another computer after this new one, I may try building my own.

2. About the OEM OS.  Dell did send me a full disk of XP Pro with service pack 2.  It wasn't just a restore disk.  They have a built in PC Restore now that you access through some menu when you are logged in.  So the XP Pro that I finally got installed was a full version of it.

3.  About Dell horror stories.  Thanks for the link, I'll go and read it once I'm online again from my house.  I called the local news paper to see if they are interested in hearing my experience with Dell.  Now I normally wouldn't do something like that, but Dell has really lost site of their customers because of their "procedure and policies".

I was so sick and tired of being quoted "it's out policy" or "it's the procedure" or "we have to follow certain rules"....  I was ready to shove their "Policy and Procedure Manual" down their throats!  It's to the point that they don't care about the customer anymore and they have become very unbending and ungiving because of their damn internal policies.

I felt completely "bullied" when I was trying to talk to anyone there and that just isn't right.  I never get that "defeated" feeling and usually I'm pretty tough and will steamroll my way through a company if I feel like I'm being abused, but I felt like I was beating my head against a brick wall with Dell and I felt completely and utterly defeated. I doubt writing to anyone there would be of any help in getting them to start taking a hard look at how they are treating their customers, so I am hoping to use the power of the media to wake them up a bit. No one should have gone through what I've been put through by Dell.  I also plan on writing to the BBB in each Province so that they can record what happened to me.  I'm mad as hell about what happened to me and I plan on letting the world know it. Maybe something good will come of it and Dell will realize that Policies and Procedures while needed are only a guideline not a law and that what really matters is the customer.

4.  About asking for help here about partitioning.  I would have done that but I didn't have another computer to use to get feed back and help.  It turns out that what they should have done is used Vista's partitioning feature to partition the drive then have me install XP Pro on the smaller volume and then format the larger volume to get rid of the Vista OS on it.  At least now I know how to create partitions and stuff now.  So I guess while it was all a horrid nightmare, I did come out with some positive things from it....I actually learned a whole bunch of new things that I didn't know before.

For those who have purchased Dell and haven't had problems... I'm happy for you. My luck with my laptop and now this has not been so good with them, and even the UPS guy who picked up the Dell stuff today said that mine was the 3rd full system in the last week that he's picked up for return to Dell.  So apparently I'm not an isolated case.  I hope you continue to be happy with your computer and the company that you bought it from: afterall that's all that really matters in the end.  For me it won't ever be another Dell.

Gotta run. I'm at the library and want to go and borrow some books before going home.  I won't be back online until I get my new system now... hopefully mid week next week.

Take care  and thanks everyone for being so kind, helpful and supportive :)  You're all so wonderful!!!!

Acadia .... good for you!!!

I've just been writing in a thread about the difference between "just complaining" about something and taking some kind of ACTION.

As someone who has successfully taken action about something that bothered you rather than just complaining about it ...

I SALUTE YOU!!

Ah Nostalgia........

First computer....

Texas Ti99-4a IIRC.....

About the same era as the ZX81 Spectrum...

Mine had a better full keyboard and a cartridge slot.

16KRAM

You could upload programs from audio tape or type them in...

Nicely built, but a total waste of time!  LOL

Dell??? Yeah right. My son had one about 5 years ago and support was crappy then too. One day after purchase the mouse died. He called the store where he bought it and was told "you'll have to contact the manufacturer". I just bought him a new one. Then after a few months something else went haywire and he called tech support. After several hours on the phone he was ready to scream in frustration. I managed to get it working again and spent the next year babying that thing. He saved enough to buy a new comp and had one built to suit his needs at Comp USA. But it isn't just Dell that is like that. Our Internet service is the same way. Oh you get tech support alright but they keep you going back and forth without fixing any problem until any warrantee is expired and then tell you you'll have to purchase a new part. In my case it was a modem costing $100.00 I'm glad to see that the junk was sent back to the company. Hope the new one is better.

well, even if you had to be bonked on the head...at least you came around to the wisdom from us all.

Quote - BastBlack, If you are looking for old computers see if you can find the Heathkit H8. That was my first in '75.

Score! Try here: http://www.old-computers.com/MUSEUM/computer.asp?c=134&st=1 Speaking of old machines, I saw a special on a program like Nova or Frontline about the coming Digital Dark Ages and what people are doing to prepare for it. One place they highlighted was a museum of old computers and software. So you can take your old floppies or programs to the museum and bring it back to life. I think they offer ways to transfer your files to newer systems. The Digital Dark Ages is a very scary thought; Something I hadn't thought of before I saw this documentary. Perhaps the ultimate solution to loosing generations of information is what one company came up with. They looked at history to see who had ultimately saved their information the best. Know who the winner was? Ancient Egypt. They built for eternity, they used stone. So this company is making what looks like stone CDroms, but it's not a CD. It's etched stone. The text is into 140 languages (like a modern Rosette Stone) and it spirals into the center. To read the tablets, you just need a magnifying glass. Neato, huh? Makes you think.... bB

Okay I have a direct link to the Rosetta Stone project. You can read and see one here: http://www.rosettaproject.org/about-us/about-us bB

The Ancient Egyptians had (almost) all the answers, if only because of their climate.   Even their papyrus survives (sort of), if they dropped it in the right place.   I remember seeing a pile of papyrus fragments from the Fayyum in a museum in Oxford.   Just the thing, if you like jigsaws and can handle lousy Roman-era Greek handwriting.   Since I can't read my own scrawl, it was not for me, though.

There have already been some spectacular failures with digital archiving, though.   Priceless texts have been ripped apart to preserve them for eternity, except that they have been stored on digital media which have become obsolete very soon afterwards, because the machines to read them have expired and have not been replaced with anything compatible.

I think that that is a threat to everyone, because there is no such thing as a reliable digital storage medium.   Any hard drive, whether internal or external, can fail suddenly.   CDs are vulnerable to damage and DVDs, if anything, are more so.

The real wonder-substance for record-keeping is vellum;  it's almost indestructible.   Sadly, it's not great for computer-generated graphics.   Nevertheless, the inventor (or inventrix) who finds a way to digitise everything and transfer it to vellum will have far exceeded the inventors of the CD and DVD.

Longetivity is a mesmerizing topic for me! ;)  Please don't get me started, please...

Most of the artifacts that have lasted millenia have only done so under extraordinary circumstances - just the right conditions, buried away-forgotten-not touched, being out of the way of wars and natural catastrophes (unless the latter preserved it - see Pompeii).

Think about how close the world was to losing the entire Nag Hammadi scrolls to the fire for boiling water for tea - even after having barely survived nearly two millenia untouched!!!

Nothing is indestructible (but I get your drift in your range of indestructibility and so on).  I've considered how humanity (Homo Sapiens Sapiens) could preserve its knowledge and history for a time when, maybe, an extraterrestrial intelligence capable of interstellar-intergalactic travel chances upon our minute solar system and planet (or an un'manned' exploratory device for the same purpose) long after we have turned into something else.  The Earth is too volatile for consideration of long-term preservation (and I'm talking millions and millions of years here).  An orbiting satellite would be bombarded by micrometeors, solar radiation, and its orbit would eventually decay.  The Moon is probably the best bet - the side that receives the least impacts.  Luckily, lunar impacts are far fewer than in past eons and its absolutely sterile environment (no atmosphere, no vulcanism, no life) are very well suited to long-term preservation.  This would be even more highly successful if the 'time-capsule' were buried beneath the surface to protect against the aforementioned dangers to satellites.  The Moon is receding in its orbit (moving further from Earth) so that means there is little chance of it careening into Earth.

It is assured that magnetic and laser media are not good for long-term data storage.  Better storage will definitely need to be found.  Just think about the reels and reels of early film being lost totally or partially to the cellulose used.

The making of the Pyramides was burned onto a DVD, some centuries later the DVD was gone.
Today only remains a piece of stone that we call "Pyramides" and nobody knows how the Hell was its making of.

I build all my own and now my daughter's. She has a Dell she got a few years ago, and it actually works fine for what it is. She hates their tech support and so had me build her new one, now she gets NO tech support! Just kidding. I made her help so she can do work on it herself and she's a lot happier now. I started building mine in the days of the 286. Bought my XT from a computer store and decided it would be better to know how to fix them myself. Had a LOT of headaches back then...you oldies will what I mean, but still worth it. If you can't build it yourself and don't want to learn, don't kick yourself. Some folks just aren't interested in building them they just want one that works. I was in pain for you reading your letter, seems like most companies just don't care for their customers anymore. If you threaten to take your business elsewhere they just say go ahead, there are ten more waiting in line for every one that leaves, and unfortunately they are right. Good luck on your new one. One good thing about a local build, you can run over and choke them if they don't treat you right....lol just kidding.
Marque

Quote - If you can't build it yourself and don't want to learn, don't kick yourself. Some folks just aren't interested in building them they just want one that works. I was in pain for you reading your letter, seems like most companies just don't care for their customers anymore. If you threaten to take your business elsewhere they just say go ahead, there are ten more waiting in line for every one that leaves, and unfortunately they are right. Good luck on your new one. One good thing about a local build, you can run over and choke them if they don't treat you right....lol just kidding.
Marque

I would love to know enough about computers to be able to build and service my own computer. It would ultimately be cheaper on my wallet ;)  However I've been looking around for a weekend workshop on general PC repair  but haven't seen any offered where I live.  The only computer courses I've seen are for software or full time, 2 year computer tech courses which I'm not really interested in taking.

Dell computers really should come with a lifetime supply of Vallium.  My nerves were shot after dealing with them. I was never so happy to see a UPS guy as I was the day they picked up the Dell for return. After I closed the door I actually leaped up and shouted "Yay!!!! It's gone!"

I have my new computer now: it just arrived today.  So far I'm really liking it, and while my monitor is 2 inches smaller than the Dell one was, I like it more. The 24 inch one was just too big!

I used to give free classes in computer upgrade and repair at the condo development where I lived in San Diego.  Not enough people around here (in the sticks of Texas) to do that sort of thing.

Is there any chance they have the "Learning Annex" in your part of the world?  You might find a good class through them (and cheap too).

I know it can seem kind of intimidating, but once you get the hang of "reading" a circuit board, it gets to be the sort of thing you can do blindfolded.  My computer died (stone dead) a few days ago ... I knew from the manner of its death that it was the power supply.  Took me a little time to find out that they don't have them in Marble Falls, but only about 5 minutes to order one on the internet, one day to get it here, and maybe 20 minutes to install it.

With Dell you get what you pay for. I suspect that most people buy from the Dell Home PC site and do not get the additional warranty. What you get for free is almost nothing. Pay the bit extra then you get tech support (from Texas, not India) and guaranteed service, usually NBD or less.
   Just for the record I build my own PC's but have also bought a couple of ex-lease PC's from Dell off E-Bay. A 2 or 3 year old computer for about $200 is good for the wife or home render farm.

Hrm..I love my dells.

buying the warrenty is a must with dell...it will give you a discount on the system in most cases and get you to th people who can help.

As for your issue....Dell sends out the full os with their computers but if you just try to install it on a new dell when they don't make xp drivers for their newer systems anymore..

Well you weren't gonna get that to work regardless.

I'm talking about the proprieitary stuff in dells, dell uses not proprietary stuff too but you need their drivers in order to make it work with the proprietary. 

Now what you were wanting to do was fine but if you couldn't do it yourself it would have been better to go to custom shop where you can bring a knowledgable friend along. 

Dells are excellent machines as long as you know enough to get not just get stuck.  Kind of like anything in the computer world. 

Dell is not a blank box company...you can upgrade and tweak but it's not near as custimizable hardware wise as a blank box.

Hi Acadia, this sucks:( Sorry to hear about it!

I've had a dell for several years, and it's OK, but I wouldn't buy another. They are just middle of the road machines. HOwever, my local shop PC is kind of a mess. I hope your shop does a better job than the one I used:(

That said, PCs are pretty easy to fix. But....it takes time and lots of boring reading.

If you want to learn, go by the local bookstore's magazine section and get a few issues the magazines there. Be sure to get one that talks about new hardware, and another that talks about PC software. I have pretty much gotten totally out of touch with things myself, so I can't recommend any magazines, or even websites any more. But....once you start getting familiar with some of the techy stuff, you pick up enough understanding to find the stuff you need on your own.

The web has all the info you need, but you have to know enough to start looking.

Once you get the basics down, a few key websites will help you with all of your windows problems (again, I'm sort of out of it, and don't have any good recommendations there).

Actually, when you go to your local shop, ask the sales person there to recommend a book or magazine. You'll be surprised how easy it is....as long as you keep up.

Then...there are people like me. I just want a mac so I can forget the hassles of keeping up, lol.

Quote - Pay the bit extra then you get tech support (from Texas, not India) and guaranteed service, usually NBD or less.
   Just for the record I build my own PC's but have also bought a couple of ex-lease PC's from Dell off E-Bay. A 2 or 3 year old computer for about $200 is good for the wife or home render farm.

In the States they have US based tech support again. In Canada they still use the call centres in other countries, and not just India.  Occasionally if you call you do get connected to an office in Canada though, but rare.

Quote -
As for your issue....Dell sends out the full os with their computers but if you just try to install it on a new dell when they don't make xp drivers for their newer systems anymore..

Well you weren't gonna get that to work regardless.

I'm talking about the proprieitary stuff in dells, dell uses not proprietary stuff too but you need their drivers in order to make it work with the proprietary. 

They told me to keep the XP and drivers disk from the first CPU unit.  So installing XP on the new CPU was possible and did eventually happen...but then 7 hours later the graphic card blew up...and 2 days after that I called Dell and told them I was returning their crummy computer.

Quote - Hi Acadia, this sucks:( Sorry to hear about it!

I've had a dell for several years, and it's OK, but I wouldn't buy another. They are just middle of the road machines. HOwever, my local shop PC is kind of a mess. I hope your shop does a better job than the one I used:(

That said, PCs are pretty easy to fix. But....it takes time and lots of boring reading.

If you want to learn, go by the local bookstore's magazine section and get a few issues the magazines there. Be sure to get one that talks about new hardware, and another that talks about PC software. I have pretty much gotten totally out of touch with things myself, so I can't recommend any magazines, or even websites any more. But....once you start getting familiar with some of the techy stuff, you pick up enough understanding to find the stuff you need on your own.

The web has all the info you need, but you have to know enough to start looking.

Once you get the basics down, a few key websites will help you with all of your windows problems (again, I'm sort of out of it, and don't have any good recommendations there).

Actually, when you go to your local shop, ask the sales person there to recommend a book or magazine. You'll be surprised how easy it is....as long as you keep up.

Then...there are people like me. I just want a mac so I can forget the hassles of keeping up, lol.

I've been picking up knowledge here and there.  Between the  Dell laptop and desktop issues and them having me going into all kinds of areas in the computer including the CPU and taking things out, and Bobby's friend George showing me how to remove parts, and from all of you guys here... I've actually learned quite a bit.

RE: DELL  

I have five Dell PC's (I have a business so some do work stuff).  One is a new bigger, larger, faster (ETC, ETC) XPS.  They all work well except the XPS which sometimes recognizes its Firewire connection and sometimes doesn't.  It was kind of humerous to try to get it fixed with Dell XPS Tech Service. (in Bophal India).  Because it's not a continuing problem they couldn't do anything about it.   The techs I talked to were not computor Gurus, they read from a script and trouble shoot from that.  If you have something that's not on the script, yopu will run into trouble.   They kept telling me I didn't have the right/current  drivers (I did).  The fix I came up with doesn't fix the problem but addresses it.  I turn the firewire drive off and then back on.  It works but still isn't the right solution.  I have had problems before but Dell has been pretty good fixing them.  I'm not satisfied with Dell on this but I have good luck with them before.  I appreciate your telling the  problems because it will help me decide as I replace computors.

You ought to try sending a copy of your troubles to PC WORLD.  They have a track record of making things right.

Several have suggested that your problem should have been addressed and they are right.. Send it back!

I have  Gateway 3.4 gig P4 single processor that had plenty of room for expansion, and I keep upgradingit myself, and have been very happy so far. I got it at Best Buy about two-three years ago.

Quote -

You ought to try sending a copy of your troubles to PC WORLD.  They have a track record of making things right.

Several have suggested that your problem should have been addressed and they are right.. Send it back!/quote]

Thanks for the tip about PC World, I will look into that.

As for returning it?  I did!  I couldn't get rid ot it fast enough actually. I now have a locally built computer that I'm thrilled with! :)

Quote - In the States they have US based tech support again. In Canada they still use the call centres in other countries, and not just India.  Occasionally if you call you do get connected to an office in Canada though, but rare.

Actually, I have had to call tech support several times in the past month on our work Dell's (as a lot of others my home computer is self built).  Every time I called tech support, I had to talk to someone whose name I can't pronounce and who barely spoke english.  In addition, this was on warranties where we paid the extra for the NBD (here in the Texas sticks should be called next business week) warranty.  Anyway, so I am not so sure all their support has been returned to local call centers.

Regardless of where their support is located at, it is certainly the cookie cutter approach that someone described above.  They have an exact script they follow and if they hit something not on the directions, I always get "please hold."  On the flip side, once they fnally realize the problem (which I tried to tell them from the start what was wrong), the guy they send to do the actual work has been great.  Even with this, I still wouldn't buy another Dell for my company.

Sorry you went through this, but glad you found a local company to help you out.

Oh and my first computer was a Radio Shack Color Computer 2.  Then did a huge upgrade to a Comodore 64 (GEOS . . .  I remember that, ah memories . . . )

I can't even finish reading the first post, I feel sorry for you Acadia :(

I build every comp I ever owned, aside fro the first 2 that were pre pentium ;p 8088 and 286 i think, damn old times!

my parents bought a dell cuz my mom didn't want me to touch her comp, cuz she thinks she smarter than me even though she cant find the tv guide channel even though theres a "tv guide" button on the remote.........ANYWAYS, so ofcourse she gets a virus on her comp, and stuff quits working (dell tech thought virus, but couldve been uneducated clicking in places ;p) and after 3 hours of her yelling at them for a cd to reformat the comp, they told her about the restore feature lol then they dont bother to mention setting up the stuff so she couldnt use the internet, but o well. 

THEN she finally gets tired of dell, and gives me 5 minutes to fix it, all works fine right? then she uses it and says it doesnt work, yelling at me now o.0 blah blah blah she was right not to let me touch it blah blah......so i go look at it AGAIN, works fine, um ok? and i tell her to show me when doesnt work, and it's cuz she was using msn.com for a search engine, and site was down for some reason, so ofcourse she thinks her comp doesn't work! 

after that, i think i prefer the dell guys, lol

but anyways, i always build my comps, well worth it to me, but then again i'm probably more of a gamer, artist just a hobby, so ofcourse i need to know my comp ;p

Quote - Build your own dear.  It's easier in the long run.  As long as you have your own copy of XP Home or Pro your all set.  I've built my last 3 and what SEEMS like an impossibility was NOT.  Read the instructions on all the manuals, check our various sites like the one above.

RAMwolf is right. Build your own is the way to go when getting a new PC. Acadia, you ought to make a complaint to your state attny general or the BBB. Companies like Dell get away with doing crap like that to people because no one ever makes a complaint about them.

I just sent off 2 letters to PC World. One to the Canadian magazine and the other the USA one.

I do plan on writing letters to the BBB in all 10 Provinces but haven't had the time and to be honest I'm still pretty hot under the collar with what happened and the thinking about it gives me a migraine!  Plus I was waiting to make sure I got my refund and credit before going after them.

I sort of did build my own... well I picked what I wanted, and I was very specific, and it was built for me by a wonderful local company. I've had cause to call them twice about something (my fault), and there was no waiting on hold for 1/2 and hour and the tech was extremely polite and I was even told that if I couldn't get it fixed myself that they would have someone come out and do it for me. I managed to get it working from their instructions.  That's how tech support should be in my opinion.

Anyway, I feel better having sent off those 2 letters to PC World.  I think this weekend I'll draft up a letter to the BBB offices here and send them off next week.

I never did hear back from the local news paper. Maybe if I just write a letter to the editor and send it in, but I'm not really into seeing my name in print,  LOL  I'd rather be behind the scenes.

Any other magazines I can write to?

small local guys are almost always polite and helpful

AOhelL is just as bad, i have some GOOD horror stories from them lol

One suggestion for the do-it-yourselfers: let one vendor provide the motherboard, cpu and RAM. Ask them to assemble everything, install the heatsinks and fan on the cpu and then burn it all in for 24-48 hours. This way you know that what you're getting works and has been tested. They may charge a few extra dollars for the service, but is well worth the peace of mind when you consider that these are typically your most expensive components. 

 
<;))$$$><<  
 

Attached Link: http://www.rosettaproject.org/about-us/about-us

shrug - I usually buy 'em all online; if anything blows up during assembly, I call, get an RMA, and get a new one. The best advice when buying a new machine in pieces is to never wait until it becomes absolutely necessary before it's time to replace your old one. Me... I just buy Macs now for the 3d stuff. /P

Quote - shrug - I usually buy 'em all online; if anything blows up during assembly, I call, get an RMA, and get a new one. The best advice when buying a new machine in pieces is to never wait until it becomes absolutely necessary before it's time to replace your old one. Me... I just buy Macs now for the 3d stuff. /P

That's great if you know how.

But for the rest of us who are computer hardware iliterate, we depend on companies such as Dell.  However, they are so hung up on making up internal policies and procedures and making sure that they are followed to a "T", that they completely forget the primary reason they are in business... the customer!

Not only was the computer I received substandard because the graphic card blew up within hours. But the customer service was disgusting from the tech support all the way to their customer service supervisors.

A company that treats their customers the way I was treated doesn't deserve to be in business.

Quote -
Not only was the computer I received substandard because the graphic card blew up within hours.

That's a common thing in new computers. If something is going to blow up, it usually happens within the first day or so. Hence the short warranty of 30 days on a lot of equipment. If it lasts that long then usually it's good for a few years.

  I have been building my own since the days of Kim and Sym..... the prehistoric times, to those who have never heard of them. I have had several given to me for various reasons, and find them very useful.... for parts. Lou.

I was forced to learn how to assemble components because that was the only way I was going to have a computer.

I work in my little own company only with DELL - from desktop-PC, notebooks to Hi-End-Graphic-machine.
And this over many years without a problem - the service from DELL in germany is excellent.

It seems that Dell has reversed it's decision to only offer Vista to it's customers.  Thanks to Hawkfyr for the thread link:

http://www.techspot.com/news/25004-dell-readds-xp-as-option-over-vista-on-new-pcs.html

However, it's too little too late for me. My situation was beyond the OS, shipping me the wrong OS was minor compared to all of the rest of the abuse they inflicted on me in this customer service nightmare, topping it off with calling me a thief!  

I made this thread to show how crappy Dell treats their average customer (I'm Josephine Average) because when all was said and done, I couldn't freaking believe that this company which  has such shoddy customer service is still in business!! 

Companies like Dell get away with abusing their customers because they have a large corner of the computer marketplace and know that if you don't know a great deal about computers and want or need  24/7 tech support, there aren't that many companies that you can go to.

Only through publication of stories such as mine will there be  any hope for the customers out there who are being abused by big businesses.   Companies who treat their customers badly need to be made an example of in order for them to see what really matters...the customer. Only then will change happen.

Any successful business requires rules, but when internal policies and procedures start to take on a life of their own and begin to freeze out the customer leaving them feeling abused and utterly defeated, that company has a growing problem.

My friends have repeatedly told me that I'm "dangerous" when I have a cause I feel worth fighting for and now that I've taken time to calm down, I have started to "campaign". I'm currently awaiting responses from a few places that  I have contacted about this Customer Service nightmare to find out if they are interested in running a story or review about the adverse affects that rigid and and unbending policies and procedures have on the customer.

Hmmm...maybe I should call Jerry Springer!    LOL  Can just see me duking it out with Michael Dell on PPV, haha

I generally don't pay for TV but you duking it out with Michael Dell, I'll make an exception :)

I haven't bought a Dell in years. They used to be number one in service, but once they outsourced all the service to overseas, Dell sucked.

Quote - I haven't bought a Dell in years. They used to be number one in service, but once they outsourced all the service to overseas, Dell sucked.

Actually, not all of their service is outsourced.

Out of all of the calls I made to Dell concerning this issue, only twice was I connected to India. And out of all the people I talked to, the 3 people in India were the most gracious and helpful out of all of them (well, that fellow in Canada  who finally got my drive partitioned was pretty good too)  The rest of the time I was bounced around throughout various call centres/offices in Canada.

Quote - That's a common thing in new computers. If something is going to blow up, it usually happens within the first day or so. Hence the short warranty of 30 days on a lot of equipment. If it lasts that long then usually it's good for a few years.

Macs come with a one year 'nose-to-tail' warranty, with up to 3 years that can be purchased for ~$300. The price difference for what you get between Apple and, say, Dell, is pretty narrow nowadays, and in many cases the Apple comes out ahead. For instance, I have my eyeball on a new MacPro, which has two Core Duos playing together for a total of four cores. The box I have spec'd out will run about $2700 or so. I couldn't find a big-name PC with the same specs for less than $3000 (mostly because a box with that kind of horsepower at Dell would only be found in their server department)... Even @ the other end, a Mac Mini prices out reasonably well against any other Core Duo based PC. I think the laptops are the only place where you pay a more for a Mac for equivalent horsepower (but then, you can run both OSX and Windows on the critter - simultaneously if you get Parallels). /P

  Not to fuel the flame, or anything.... attempts to look completely innocent..... but you might consider sending a copy of the other thread.... at the very least, your initial post... to Dell, pointing out that literally thousands of people worldwide have read this, and that it isn't uncommon. Lou.